Rio Negócios: Celebrating Two Years and R$3 Billion of Investments in the City

Rio de Janeiro is one of the cities that most attracts foreign direct investment in the world, launched recently in global spotlight with the encouragement of a powerful global marketing platform, efficient management, as well as all of its qualities known in postcards. The aim is that more companies see opportunities in strategic sectors like energy, information technology and communication, financial services, creative industries, hospitality, urban infrastructure and life sciences.

In 2010, Mayor Eduardo Paes created Rio Negócios – an organization to attract new investment – which will celebrate its two years birthday on May the 14th and became the official agency of the city for this purpose. The public-private partnership, made possible by the joining of forces between the City Hall and the Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro, is already responsible for the arrival of about R$ 3 billion in projects during this period.

“… responsible for the arrival of about R$ 3 billion in projects …”

The agency is the gateway for investors in Rio and Brazil and has two key areas in this operation – commercial and business intelligence. The goal, in addition to promoting closer ties with the relevant bodies to facilitate the arrival of new companies, is to consolidate and customize information relevant to business customers and is also an important source of research for the city.

Rio Negócios was inspired by Think London, one of the most important entities in attracting investment in the world, that attracted $ 7 billion for London over 15 years. The focus of the Brazilian agency are sectors where the city meets its vocation. The list of companies that the agency has supported shows that the work has achieved success. GE, Wellstream, Direct Edge, EMC, IBM, Siemens, BG, L’Oreal, Fiocruz, State Grid, Haobo, Erowlabs, Rolls Royce, Columbia University, Diageo, Lekunbide, House in Rio, IMD and Cisco counted on the support of Rio Negócios.

“We have in our favor not only the international projection which Rio de Janeiro is going through, as also the existence of several features that together make our business environment unbeatable. We are the Latin American capital of energy, we have the greatest logistics potential of the country, with two ports and three airports, we hosted leading companies in various sectors, we became a hub of innovation, beyond academic excellence offered in the city, with institutions of reference for the whole country,” says the executive director Marcelo Haddad.